Malaysiakini report:
MCA and Gerakan leaders should practice what they preach and resign from their ministerial posts to protest the Internal Security Act and its abuse by the Barisan Nasional government, said an opposition leader.
“Until today, I have yet to see them doing it even though at the outset they were very vocal against ISA and the recent crackdown,” said DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng.
Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, challenged the MCA and Gerakan leaders to prove their sincerity on the issue.
He added that they should display the same courage shown by defacto law minister, Zaid Ibrahim, who quit his cabinet post to protest against the draconian ISA, which allows for police detention without trial.
Leaders from Chinese-based parties in the BN have voiced out their disapproval of the arrests of blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, DAP parliamentarian Teresa Kok and journalist Tan Hoon Cheng.
While Tan has been released after an 18-hour detention, both Raja Petra and Kok are still in police custody.
Meanwhille, Zaid's resignation has been hailed by many as an act of principle, while none of MCA leaders, such as Liow Tiong Lai, Ong Tee Keat and Ong Ka Chuan, nor Gerakan leaders, such as Tan Lian Hoe and A Kohilan Pillay, have quit their government posts.
Lim said even if they did not have the guts to emulate Zaid, MCA and Gerakan leaders should at least have voiced out their strong disapproval during cabinet meetings.
An ex-ISA detainee himself, Lim also took MCA president Ong Ka Ting and Gerakan leader Koh Tsu Koon to task for opposing ISA now when it suited them
“Have anyone heard them crying foul over ISA and its abuses in cabinet and BN meetings? They talk big outside now, but talked nothing about ISA internally,” said Lim, after launching Free ‘Penang Wifi’ pilot project in Komtar, Georgetown today.
Sapp and Najib
On Sabah Progressive Party (Sapp)'s decision to pull out from BN and stand as an independent party, Lim said it had not indicated its desire to join the Pakatan Rakyat so far.
On Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s appointment as finance minister, swapping the defence ministry with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, he said the Penang government would try to forge a close working tie with the new man at helm.
“Even though he may not be a Penangite, I hope he will improve on the state-federal ties,” he said, adding he would seek an early meeting with Najib to secure funds for Penang.
Under Abdullah, the federal government had scrapped a RM2 billion monorail project, the RM1.5 billion Penang Outer Ring Road and the RM1.1 billion Mengkuang Dam expansion project.
Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, Penang was originally allocated RM6.152 billion or 3.1 percent of a RM200 billion budget. But, after the mid-term review, it was slashed to RM1.452 billion or 0.6 percent of an increased RM230 billion budget.
Lim expressed the hope that Najib would either restore both the original allocation and projects, or at least replace with cash and allow the state government to implement its own projects to benefit Penangites.
I am reminded of a Chinese proverb Dui Niu Tan Qing - literally playing the lute to the cows. You think they will listen or not leh?
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